After theory

Terry Eagleton

Basic Books, 2003 - Social Science - 231 pages

For anyone forced to wrestle with the likes of Derrida and Foucault during their college days, Terry Eagleton needs no introduction. His clear and accessible primer on literary theory was (and is) an indispensable guide to the post-modern era in the humanities. Now Eagleton argues that the golden age of cultural theory has ended, and with characteristic wit and verve, he traces its rise and fall from structuralism to post-colonial studies and beyond. In a new era of globalization and terrorism, Eagleton warns, the bundle of ideas known as post-modernism is essentially toothless.In this eloquent synthesis of a lifetime of learning, Eagleton challenges contemporary intellectuals to engage with a range of vital topics-love, evil, death, morality, religion, and revolution-that they've ignored over the past thirty years. Lively and provocative, Eagleton's latest will engage readers inside and outside the academy who are eager for a more holistic and humane way of "reading" the world."A rare opportunity to enjoy the art of cultural and social diagnosis at its purest! Eagleton offers a unique combination of theoretical stringency and acerbic common-sense witticism, of critical historical reflection and the ability to ask the 'big' metaphysical questions."-Slavoj Zizek

What people are saying

Review: After Theory

User Review  - Danielle - Goodreads

I really hated this book. I got halfway through, tried to read the rest about four times, and finally am adding it to my "abandoned" shelf. Eagleton's representations of postmodern theory are shallow ...

Review: After Theory

User Review  - Bertrand - Goodreads

Do not expect a step by step debunking of the critical-theoritical dogma : as often with Eagleton, the overarching 'theme' of the book (here, the dominant conjecture of identity politics, cultural ...

Contents

• II: 1
• III: 23
• IV: 41
• V: 74
• VI: 103
• VII: 140
• VIII: 174
• IX: 208
• X: 223
• XI: 229

About the author

Terry Eagleton is Professor of Cultural Theory at Manchester University. He is the author of Literary Theory, several plays, a trilogy on Irish culture, the screenplay for Derek Jarman's film Wittgenstein, and many other books. He is also a frequent contributor to Harper's, The Nation, and the New York Review of Books.

Bibliographic information

• Title: After theory; Art of Mentoring Series; Basic Books
• Author: Terry Eagleton
• Publisher: Basic Books, 2003
• ISBN: 0465017738, 9780465017737
• Length: 231 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Semiotics & Theory; Social Science / Sociology / General